Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Lowers Stock Position in Kellanova (NYSE:K)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC trimmed its position in Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,768 shares of the company’s stock after selling 341 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Kellanova were worth $548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Silphium Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in Kellanova by 177.8% in the 4th quarter. Silphium Asset Management Ltd now owns 250,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,242,000 after buying an additional 160,000 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Kellanova during the 4th quarter worth about $341,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 57,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,661,000 after purchasing an additional 16,950 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 127.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. Finally, Sherman Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kellanova during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. 83.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.85, for a total value of $9,264,035.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,764,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,942,578,293.50. This trade represents a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,145,830 shares of company stock worth $93,673,894. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kellanova Price Performance

Shares of K stock opened at $82.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $28.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.31. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.17. Kellanova has a one year low of $52.46 and a one year high of $83.22.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.61. Kellanova had a return on equity of 37.25% and a net margin of 10.53%. On average, analysts expect that Kellanova will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kellanova Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Kellanova’s payout ratio is presently 58.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com began coverage on Kellanova in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Kellanova from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.50 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.96.

About Kellanova

Kellanova, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets snacks and convenience foods in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Australia, and Africa. Its principal products include crackers, crisps, savory snacks, toaster pastries, cereal bars, granola bars and bites, ready-to-eat cereals, frozen waffles, veggie foods, and noodles.